


Pillow Talk

by allmilhouse



Category: Mr. Mayor (TV)
Genre: F/F, Pre-Femslash
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-13
Updated: 2021-02-13
Packaged: 2021-03-13 15:07:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 930
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29403843
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/allmilhouse/pseuds/allmilhouse
Summary: When Mikaela can't sleep, she starts thinking. Mostly about Arpi
Relationships: Mikaela Shaw/Arpi Meskimen
Comments: 2
Kudos: 2





	Pillow Talk

**Author's Note:**

> set just after s1e7. I've fallen in love with Arpi and I'm assuming everyone else has too

It’s three days later and she can’t sleep again.

It wasn’t the same as before. After talking with Arpi and getting to the root of her imposter syndrome, she’d slept better than she had since the election. She’d been on fire at work since then, coordinating a good photo op for the mayor’s 100th day in office, and managing to get one of the good muffins at the weekly meeting before Jayden touched them all, (he insisted on judging them on their sturdiness). Orly even liked the selfie she posted! It had been a while since Mikaela had felt this accomplished and confident, but somehow sleep still eluded her.

She rolled over angrily, whipping her pillow against the headboard. Back and forth, tossing and turning, unable to get her mind quiet enough to drift off. There was an idea at the back of her head, gnawing at her, refusing to leave her alone. 

It had really started that first week, when Arpi had spun the lack of office tape into a clever ploy to get that ridiculous PPPoRN idea in front of half of city hall. But Mikaela hadn’t been annoyed then. Being manipulated by Arpi didn’t trigger her imposter syndrome the way being mistaken for an intern had. If anything, she felt oddly good about it.

They’d all been intimidated when Arpi first signed on as deputy mayor. She had a long, long, _loooong_ history of being one of the most stubborn and determined forces in LA politics, and her old-school, protest-honed and street-hardened tactics didn’t seem to fit in with Mayor Bremer’s _”hey I’m chill, I remember the sixties”_ vibe. Managing the egos of two conflicting older personality types seemed like a recipe for disaster, but somehow it worked. That first day with Arpi showed her that while the deputy mayor wouldn’t compromise her ideals, she could do it in a way that wouldn’t leave Mikaela in a difficult or awkward position. 

Unlike now, sprawled across her bed diagonally, head hanging off the edge of the mattress, Cardi B asmr video playing softly and irritatingly in the background. She just could. not. sleep. 

She shrugged off her sleep mask to rub her eyes, stopping halfway to laugh. It reminded her of Susan getting pepper sprayed at their harassment training seminar, crying into Jayden's shitty popsicles. 

The whole day had been a shitshow, but in the end it really brought the team closer together to watch someone (and then later Jayden) nearly blind themselves. She was in a better place with Tommy, who was probably her closest friend at work. They gave each other a hard time, but only because they cared about each other. And Neil and Jayden got a dose of modern workplace tolerance, and of course, it made her appreciate Arpi more. She literally wrote the book on workplace harassment- Mikaela found it in her desk on orientation day. _The Female Way to Fight Back in the Workplace, by Arpi Meskimen_. She hadn't read it yet, but she was hoping to dress up as Arpi's author photo for halloween, as long as Tommy didn't steal the idea first. 

More awake than ever, Mikaela kicked off her duvet in frustration. She tried sleepy time tea, she tried turning off her phone, but nothing worked. The idea of a good night's sleep was slipping further out of reach. 

She thought about Arpi again, about how she might handle another bout of insomnia. It was hard to picture her tired in general. She was a force of energy, her intensity growing by the day. Mikaela had lost track of how many times she had come into her office in the morning to find Arpi waiting for her, a quick _"Good morning Ms Shaw"_ before launching full-speed into whatever new pet project she wanted to show to the mayor. 

And she was so confident, no matter what she did, whether it was wearing denim on denim on denim, or running the length of city hall twice a day, to see if she could beat her personal record set in 1992, or the way she kissed Mikaela’s forehead the other morning- wait, why was she still thinking about that? 

Oh. _Oh._

She lowered her sleep mask again, cracking one eye open. “Alexa what time is it?”

“It is 11:23 pm.” Hmm. Late, but not too late for Arpi, who was probably still working on a speech or a policy proposal or a reclaimed wooden desk. She took a deep breath before speaking. 

“Alexa, call Scary McTiny Bird.”

Of course Arpi answered on the first ring. "Hello Mikaela. Or if this is a kidnapper who has taken Ms Shaw's phone-"

"Arpi, it's me," she said, cutting off the insane yet oddly comforting greeting. 

"Can't sleep again? Need me to work a little melatonin magic? I have an incremental property tax proposal that I’m very enthusiastic about." 

Mikaela smiled. "That's nice but I really just wanted to hear your voice."

"Oh." Arpi sounded surprised but didn't say anything else, and Mikaela worried she had misread the whole situation. A few seconds passed in silence and she was just about to apologize when Arpi spoke up again. "Ok, here's a story that shouldn't put you to sleep. It's about my first week at city hall."

"Sounds perfect." She leaned back in bed, listening to Arpi's patented blend of dulcet tones and upsetting words. She wouldn't fall asleep just yet, but Arpi's voice filled her with a sense of calm, letting her know that everything would be alright as long as Arpi was there.


End file.
